Feeding mechanism for presses for plastic material.



I 4 Patented Sept. 2, I902. J. B. MASECAR 8-. T BEVINGTUN.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PBE SSES FOB PLASTlC MATERIAL.

(Application filed Dec. 11, 1901.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Swot I,

Inventor-s:

' ".iJohn R. Masecar,

Thomas Sevingroh, 7Z1)? I a I Attor'neys.

' 1:. .THE NORRIS PETERS cm. PflOYO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, n

Patented Sept. 2, I902.' J. n; MASECAR & T. BEVINGTUN. v FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PBESSES FOR PLASTIC MATERIAL.

(Application filed Dec. 11 1901.)

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m; Modal.)

Inventors:

Witneses 35 01%.

mm 3 W 0 e 8 n 5% r 5 o M I n .B A s a m o dh T No. 703,059. v Patented Sept. 2, I902.

J. n. MASECAR & T. BEVINGTON.. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PBESSES FOR PLASTIC MATERIAL.

(Application filed Dec. 11, 1901. (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

I 77mm Bevtnylon, I zzoreys.

THE NORRIS vsrzns 2a.. PHOTO-Una. WASHINGTON, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF CE.

JOHN R. MASECAR AND THOMAS BEVINGTON, OF TORONTO JUN OTION,

CANADA, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-HALF TO DAVID BROWN, OF DONAGH- MORE, IRELAND.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PRESSES FOR PLASTIC MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 708,059, dated September 2, 1902. Application filed December 11, 1901. Serial No. 85,473. (No model.)

feeding mechanism for pressing or stamping machines, such as soap-presses; and our object is to provide improved mechanism for receiving the cakes standing on edge side by side in a row and feeding said cakes one after another in a fiat position between the pressing or stamping dies.

It has been proposed heretofore to construct an automatic soap-press with a reciprocating plunger arranged to slide to and fro in a feeding conduit or guideway to I push the unpressed cake between the dies, each cake when fed forward serving to push the one already pressed out of the dies and on intothe discharge-conduit, which forms. a continuation of the feeding-conduit in alinement therewith. To supply the bars of soap to the feeding-conduit, a feeding box or chute was arranged to receive a stack or pile of unpressed bars, the bottom of said chute opening above the path of the feeding-plunger. The plunger in moving forward caught the undermost bar or cake and pushed it ahead into the dies, meanwhile receiving and supporting the weight of the column of bars in the feed-box. Upon the backward stroke of the plunger it would be withdrawn from under the column of bars and the column would fall, placing another bar in front of the plunger ready to be pushed into the dies upon the next forward movement. This means of supplying the bars to the feeding or charging mechanism isopen to the objection that the bars of soap are sometimes mutilated and mashed by the sliding plunger, and the weight of the long column of bars interferes with the free movement of the plunger.

It is usual in soap factories to stack the unpressed. bars of soap after they are cut in horizontal rows'on suitable racks, the cakes resting on edge side by side. The form of feeding mechanism above described is further open to objection in that it is somewhat inconvenient to transfer the unpressed bars Whichare resting in horizontal rows on the racks to the vertical or steeply-inclined feeding box or chute.

In accordance with our invention a conveyer, which may be a horizontally-disposed belt, is provided for receiving the bars from the racks, so that a whole row may-be picked up at one time from the rack and simply deposited in the same order upon the conveyer. An intermediate feeding device or guideway,

which may include a supplementary movable conveyer, is arranged to receive the bars from the end of the main conveyer, which is preferably continuously moving, and transfer main conveyer to the charging-table preferably comprises a short inclined feeding box or chutecommunicating at the bottom with the side ofthe charging-table, so as to introduce the bars laterally into the path of the charger, and a supplementary conveyer, suchas an endless belt, arranged in a plane a little lower than that of the main conveyer in position to receive the bars as they fall one by one from the end of the latter and transfer said bars to the upper end of the feeding box or chute. Each bar is then turned on its. side in falling from the end of the main conveyer onto the supplementary conveyer, so that the latter receives it lying fiat, in which position it is delivered to the charging-table and from there slid between the dies. The supplementary conveyer is preferably run at a higher, rate of speed than the main conveyer to prevent the piling up of the bars upon it, each bar when flat occupying more room on the conveyer than when standing on edge.

We will describe our invention more particularly by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein+ Figure 1 is a plan View of a soap-press equipped with our improved feeding mechanism. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a front view thereof, and Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

The same letters of reference are used to designate the same parts wherever they are shown.

We have illustrated our invention as applied to a soap-press which embodies besides our invention certain other improvements or combinations which are the sole invention of John Rolph Masecar and which are described and claimed by him in Patent No. 699,887, granted May 13, 1902.

The upper and lower dies (1 a are arranged to reciprocate in vertical planes in a wellknown manner, the upper die being attached to a sliding cross-head b and the lower die being arranged to slide vertically in the diebox a and yieldingly maintained in an elevated position through the agency of spring 0 in a well-known manner. The cross-head carrying the upper die is reciprocated by means of a bell-crank. lever d, the lower end of which is connected by a pitman d with a rotating part of the machine. The dies and the means of reciprocating them form no part of this invention.

A charging-table or guideway e is provided at the front of the machine leading to the lower die, and a reciprocating plunger fis arranged to slide to and fro in said guideway, so that when a bar of soap is placed in the guideway by mechanism which we shall presently describe said plunger serves to push the soap along the guideway or charging-table into the dies, where it is stamped. To actuate the charging-plunger f, a centrally-pivoted oscillating lever f may be provided, the upper end of said lever being connected to the plunger and the lower end being slotted to engage a pin f which is carried by a rotating disk f mounted on one of the rotating shafts of the machine. As the disk rotates the pin thereon engaging the slotted end of the lever f causes said lever to oscillate, thus reciprocating the plunger. WVe have shown a second or discharging plunger 9 acting at right angles to the charging-plunger f to throw the soap after it has been pressed out of the dies and onto the discharge-track; but this mechanism forms no part of the present invention, which is concerned principally with the handling of the soap bars before they reach the dies A short inclined feeding box or chute h extends diagonally upward from the side of the charging-table or guideway, said chute being adapted to receive the soap cakes lying flat end to end and to feed the said cakes laterally onto the charging-table at a point immediately in front of the charging-plunger when the latter is retracted. When the plunger moves forward, it pushes the bar of soap on the charging-table on into the dies to be stamped, one edge of said plunger serving the other bars to move downward one step in the chute.

Communicating with the upper end of the chute or feed-box his a horizontally-disposed endless belt or conveyer 7a, which need not be of any very great length. A main receiving conveyer or endless belt m is arranged in alinement with the conveyer 7c and in a plane slightly above the same. These belts or conveyers pass over suitable rollers or pulleys, one of the rollers of each belt being positively driven. Thus the roller 70', carrying belt 70, is mounted on a shaft which carries a driven pulley 70 belted to a drivingpulley on the counter-shaft n, and the roller m of the belt m is mounted on ashaft which carries the driven pulley m belted to another driving-pulley on said counter-shaft. The pulleys are preferably arranged so that the conveyer 70 will travel considerably faster than the receiving-conveyer m. The counter-shaft n, which carries the driving-pulleys for operating the conveyors, may be driven in any desired manner. We have shown said shaft geared to the main operating-shaft 0 of the machine, which is driven by a main beltwheel through suitable clutch mechanism under the control of the attendant. The conveyer-belts m and 7c preferably run in troughs, which serve as guideways for the soap bars.

The operation of the particular machine illustrated is as follows: The attendant may pick up a whole row of soap bars at once from the rack on which they are brought to him and deposit said bars in a body on the main conveyer m, where they will rest on edge side by side. As the conveyer moves the bars toward the charging-table said bars will fall one by one from the end of said conveyer onto the supplementary conveyer 7c, turning over on their sides as they fall. The supplementary conveyer then feeds said bars end to end one after another through the feed box or chute h to the charging-table e, to which they are delivered lying flat ready to be pushed into the dies by the charger. The operation of the charging-plunger has already been set forth.

It is evident that the ideas herein set forth may be embodied in machines differing widely as to their particular construction, and we do not desire to be understood as limiting ourselves to the particular structure shown; but,

Having described one form of our invention, we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. In a pressing or stamping machine, the combination with the dies and means for operating them, of a chargingtable and a charger for pushing the bars to be pressed from said table between the dies, a main conveyer for receiving the bars in a row, standing upright, side by side, an intermediate feeding device adapted to receive said bars from the main conveyer and to transfer them to the charging-table, means for moving the conveyer and means for turning each bar upon its side in the course of its travel, whereby each bar is delivered fiat upon the charging-table, substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination with the vertically-reciprocating dies, ofa charging-table or guideway leading to the dies, a charger and means for moving the same across said charging-table toward the dies, an inclined feeding-chute communicating at the bottom with the side of the charging-table and adapted to introduce bars placedin said chute laterally onto the charging-table into the path of the charger, and conveying mechanism adapted to receive unpressed bars in a row standing side by side, and arranged to deliver the bars one by one edge to edge into the upper portion of said feeding-chute.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination with the vertically-reciprocating dies, of a charging-table or guideway leading to the dies, a reciprocating chargingplunger arranged to slide in said guideway, and means for operating said plunger, an in- .clined feeding-chute communicating at the bottom with the charging-table or guideway, a main conveyer adapted to receive a row of soap bars standing on edge side by side, a supplementary conveyer in alinement with the main conveyer and adapted to receive bars from the end of said main conveyer and to transfer said bars to the upper end of the feeding-chute, the "two conveyers being arranged relatively to one another so that the soap bars will fall on their sides in passing from one to the other, and means for driving said conveyers, the supplementary conveyer beingdriven faster than the receiving-conveyer'.

In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands, this 23d day of November, 1901, at the town of Toronto Junction, Ontario.

JOHN R. MASEGAR. THOMAS BEVINGTON.

Witnesses:

D. C. TANNER, A. J. ANDERSON. 

